In the dim prison cell, the rustling sound of footsteps arose. Guo Qinwei hurriedly said, “Princesses, the ghost guards are coming. You must leave quickly.”

Li Ying was confused. Guo Qinwei continued, “Those who commit suicide must relive the pain of their death on every Dog and Pig Hour until their predestined lifespan ends. Only then can they be released. The ghost guards are coming for me. Please, Princess, leave quickly.”

Li Ying hadn’t known about this rule in the netherworld. Seeing the footsteps drawing nearer, she quickly nodded, “Very well. Take care, General Guo.”

With that, her form and Ashina Jia’s vanished from the prison cell.

After reaching the Ghost Judge Hall from the first level of hell, Ashina Jia could no longer hold on. She felt a bone-chilling cold in every part of her body, making it impossible for her to move. She collapsed to the ground. Li Ying, inside Ashina Jia’s body, also felt her weakness. The emerald-green ghost fire floated in the air, anxiously asking, “Princess Ashina Jia, what’s happened to you?”

Ashina Jia’s teeth were chattering from the cold, and her form was growing increasingly faint. She gave the emerald-green ghost fire a wan smile. “I’m afraid I won’t make it.”

Under the erosion of the Netherworld Water, she was about to scatter completely. Although Li Ying had anticipated this outcome, she was still too saddened to speak. Ashina Jia seemed to sense what she was thinking and said, “Princess Yong’an, don’t be sad. I don’t regret this at all. I’m quite content. In this life, I’ve finally been brave once.”

She smiled faintly, her form about to dissipate completely. “You should go. Return to Cui Xun’s side. He needs you.”

Rationally, Li Ying knew she should leave quickly; otherwise, when King Qinguang arrived, she wouldn’t be able to leave even if she wanted to. But seeing Ashina Jia about to scatter, emotionally, she couldn’t bear to leave. She didn’t want to abandon this poor girl to face death alone.

As the emerald-green ghost fire hesitated, Li Ying heard a voice: “Who goes there? Who dares intrude upon the Ghost Judge Hall?”

She and Ashina Jia looked toward the voice and saw an imposing man wearing a green official robe and a jeweled square crown, with panther-like eyes, a lion-like nose, and a long beard. Behind him were dozens of ghost guards in green, all staring fiercely at the two of them.

Ashina Jia was the first to react. “Oh no! It’s King Qinguang!”

Despite being on the verge of scattering, she threw herself toward King Qinguang to block his way. “Princess Yong’an, run!”

But she was just a formless entity created from a lingering attachment. How could she be a match for King Qinguang, one of the Ten Kings of Hell? Before she could get close to King Qinguang, he slightly opened his palm, and a golden chain flew out, binding her tightly.

King Qinguang frowned as he looked at her dissipating form and commanded, “Foolish child, return to the City of Wrongful Deaths!”

The golden chain gradually gathered Ashina Jia’s fragmenting body, piecing it back together, then dragged her toward the City of Wrongful Deaths. Li Ying stared at Ashina Jia’s receding figure, still unable to process what was happening, when suddenly she heard the pure sound of Buddhist chanting reaching the netherworld. Her ghost fire form was being forcefully pulled toward the exit of the netherworld.

It was Yu Fuwei. He had raised the Soul-Summoning Banner and had monks recite the Diamond Sutra, intending to recall her from the netherworld to the mortal realm.

King Qinguang’s eyes were beginning to show anger. He clenched his fist, and the emerald-green ghost fire involuntarily flew toward him, tightly grasped in his palm.

Li Ying was almost suffocated by his grip. Meanwhile, the Soul-Summoning Banner and the Diamond Sutra’s chants were pulling her outward. She felt as if her body was being torn in half. King Qinguang angrily said, “Do you think my Ghost Judge Hall is a place you can come and go as you please?”

His fingers tightened, and the emerald-green ghost fire grew increasingly weak. The Soul-Summoning Banner and the Diamond Sutra’s chants in the mortal realm were no match for King Qinguang’s power. Just as Li Ying’s consciousness was about to remain forever in the netherworld, which would have left her soul in the mortal realm witless and dull due to the incompleteness of her consciousness, King Qinguang stopped applying pressure. He frowned as he looked at the faint ghost fire in his palm. After a long moment, he finally said, “You should be grateful that you have a good father!”

With that, he released his hand. “Go!”

As soon as King Qinguang released his grip, Li Ying’s consciousness was pulled by the Soul-Summoning Banner and the chants, heading out of the netherworld.

In the mortal realm, at the Yu Residence.

Li Ying, sitting upright at the desk, opened her eyes in a panic. Cold sweat streamed down her forehead. She had nearly been trapped there forever.

Yu Fuwei, who had been anxiously pacing around the room, was overjoyed to see her awaken. “Princess, you’re awake?”

Li Ying nodded. She said in a daze, “Ashina Jia and I encountered King Qinguang… King Qinguang saved her… and he didn’t kill me…”

“King Qinguang saved Ashina Jia and didn’t kill you?” Yu Fuwei was puzzled. “King Qinguang has always been impartial. This time, he spared both of you?”

Li Ying thought of the terrifying moment when she had nearly encountered King Qinguang. Still shaken, she nodded and said, “He also said that I have a good father… Why is that?”

Yu Fuwei thought for a moment and said, “Given the late Emperor’s merits, he should have ascended to the rank of Immortal. Perhaps he asked King Qinguang to look after the Princess.”

Li Ying could only think of this explanation as well. Yu Fuwei poured her a cup of purple bamboo shoot tea. Li Ying held the cyan glass teacup, and her heart gradually calmed. She told Yu Fuwei everything that had happened in the netherworld, though she omitted the truth about the Imperial Force Army’s destruction. Yu Fuwei was only a merchant, while Pei Guanyue was a third-rank Minister of War. She didn’t want to involve Yu Fuwei.

Yu Fuwei guessed that she had omitted certain details. He also guessed that it might be related to Cui Xun, but since she had just escaped death, he didn’t want to press her. After Li Ying finished speaking, she asked, “By the way, Mr. Yu, did anything happen to Cui Xun while I was in the netherworld?”

Yu Fuwei looked at her concerned expression and felt an inexplicable sense of heartache. She had nearly lost her life in the netherworld, yet she was still asking if Cui Xun was alright. Normally, he might have made some sarcastic remarks, but since learning that Cui Xun had never surrendered to the Turks, he suddenly lost the heart to do so. He lowered his gaze and told her what had happened at the Cui Residence: “Yesterday, several family members of the Imperial Force Army went to the Cui Residence to cause trouble. They said they wanted to avenge Guo Qinwei, but they were driven out by the Court of Judicial Review.”

Li Ying was stunned. “Avenge? What vengeance? General Guo wasn’t killed by Cui Xun!”

“Yes, you know that, I know that, but the world doesn’t know. During Cui Xun’s imprisonment, with the deliberate spread of rumors, gossip spread throughout Chang’an. Now, everyone in Chang’an would like to drink his blood and eat his flesh, let alone the families of the Imperial Force Army who feel the pain more deeply.”

Li Ying’s hand, holding the cyan glass teacup, began to tremble. She remembered the silver-saddled youth described by Guo Qinwei in the netherworld—proud and unwilling to be captured even in the face of death. He had endured humiliation for the Imperial Force Army. This humiliation had lasted for six years. He might not mind the insults from others, but he could not ignore the insults from the families of the Imperial Force Army, whom he cared about the most.

His heart must be, once again, riddled with countless wounds.

Li Ying bit her lip. Her voice was somewhat shaky. “Then what happened?”

Yu Fuwei sighed and said, “Those family members were only thirteen or fourteen years old, at an age when blood runs hot. They are from poor backgrounds and normally wouldn’t even know where Cui Xun’s residence is. They were instigated by someone. Lu Huai had each of them severely punished with twenty strokes of the paddle. They’re still being detained and questioned at the Court of Judicial Review.”

Li Ying was silent for a moment before gritting out a few words: “They deserved it!”

Being young was no excuse for hurting others.

Yu Fuwei also said, “I don’t know where they got the courage to storm the residence of a fourth-rank official. After this, I doubt they’ll dare to do it again.”

Li Ying didn’t want to think about these instigated youths anymore. She could be compassionate and kind-hearted, but when she thought of the inhuman torment Cui Xun had endured over these years, she simply couldn’t be compassionate or kind. She asked Yu Fuwei, “What about Cui Xun? Is he alright?”

Yu Fuwei shook his head. “He’s fine, except, I heard his forehead was cut by a youth named He Shisan.”

Li Ying almost dropped the teacup she was holding. When she came to her senses, she hurriedly put down the glass teacup and rushed out as if flying.

Yu Fuwei was stunned. He looked in the direction Li Ying had left and unconsciously said, “Princess, you haven’t drunk your tea yet.”

But how could he still see Li Ying’s figure?

Yu Fuwei turned back dejectedly and looked at the green bamboo shoot tea, still steaming. Finally, he gave a bitter smile.

When Li Ying entered the Cui Residence, Cui Xun was sitting at the purple sandalwood table, weaving a grasshopper. Seeing her arrive, he seemed quite happy and slightly raised the corners of his mouth. “You’re here?”

He said, “I’ve made a grasshopper for you.”

Li Ying took it, but there was no delight on her face. She just stared at his forehead. The jade-like temple now bore a faint red scar. Li Ying asked, “What happened to your forehead?”

Cui Xun touched the wound and calmly said, “Nothing much. Yesterday, when I was getting into bed, I accidentally hit it.”

“I see…” Li Ying didn’t expose his lie, but her heart felt increasingly sad. She lowered her gaze and said, “Yesterday, Yu Fuwei and I discovered the whereabouts of General Guo’s head. It was stolen by the Turkic Yabgu and is now in the Yabgu’s residence. Perhaps we can think of a way to retrieve it.”

Cui Xun was somewhat stunned. After a long moment, he asked, “How did you find out?”

During his three years back in the Great Zhou, he had sent numerous spies from the Investigation Department to search for General Guo’s head in Turkic lands, all to no avail. How could Yu Fuwei, a ghost merchant, be more capable than the Investigation Department’s spies?

Li Ying vaguely said, “Yu Fuwei knows many people. Anyway, we stumbled upon it by chance.”

She was truly not good at lying. When she spoke falsehoods, her gaze would wander, unable to look at him. After a moment, Cui Xun quietly said, “Alright.”

She seemed very sad. She didn’t want to speak, and he didn’t want to force her.

Li Ying didn’t say anything more. Looking at the scar on his temple, she felt a suffocating pain in her heart. Scenes from Luoyan Ridge flashed before her eyes, followed by scenes from Turkic lands. Her expression became somewhat dazed. She truly couldn’t understand why he had to endure all this. He had never surrendered to the Turks, yet he was cursed by everyone in the world for being a cowardly traitor. He had done everything in his power to care for the families of the Imperial Force Army, yet they threw stones at him and mocked him. She felt a kind of despair in her heart that was hard to dispel—the despair of watching someone she cared about repeatedly suffer injustice while being powerless to help. This despair was suffocating her. She felt she couldn’t stay here any longer. If she stayed, she feared she would burst into tears.

Clutching the grasshopper, she lowered her eyes and said, “I’m a bit tired. I’ll go back to my room first.”

With that, she fled as if flying. She had never acted like this before, and Cui Xun, watching her retreating figure, also had a trace of bewilderment in his eyes.